


These Streets

by profslupin



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Road Trip, M/M, Post-Canon, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2019-02-04 10:15:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12768891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/profslupin/pseuds/profslupin
Summary: alternate title: Jean and Jeremy's Guide to an Epic Cross Country Road TripAfter one of Alvarez's pranks leaves the boys stranded in South Carolina after a game, they decide to take the long route home.





	These Streets

**Author's Note:**

> this is a canon compliant road trip au, abt a year after the events of tkm!! im a hoe for road trip aus we all knew this was coming ok

Jeremy’s eyes fluttered open and he groaned, pulling the hotel comforter up over his head to block out the light that was streaming in through the window.

And then he immediately jolted up as he remembered he had a 7am flight to catch.

“Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit.”

He quickly scrambled out of bed and threw a pillow at Jean, who was sleeping in the other bed in their shared hotel room.

“Dude, we gotta hurry if we don’t wanna miss our flight! Shit, where did I put my socks?”

Jean, who had woken with a start when the pillow hit him in the leg, groped the bedside table for a moment before his hand found his phone.

“That’s not going to be an issue.”

Jeremy, who had been frantically shoving on his sneakers, looked up, relieved, and said, “Oh, thank God. What time is it?”

“11:30.”

Jeremy stared, lips parted, before replying flatly, “What.”

Instead of responding, Jean simply leaned forward from his spot on the bed to show his phone screen to Jeremy, where the time  _ 11:34  _ was displayed.

“Well, shit.”

* * *

 

The Trojans were in South Carolina for an away game against the Foxes, and they had flown in on Thursday evening. The Foxes, under Dan and Neil’s leadership, had played extremely well on Friday, bolstered even further because they were playing on their home court. It was a close game, and, unfortunately, the Foxes took the lead late in the second half and knocked the Trojans out of the Championship.

It had been disappointing, but Jeremy could say he was honestly excited to see Kevin and the Foxes take on the Ravens once again in the Finals, and had assured them he would be rooting for them, as if that fact was ever in question.

And then, of course, his Trojans insisted on a party “to drink away their sorrows” as well as celebrate the Foxes qualification into the Finals with them. So the teams had showered and gotten ready, and then they all headed to the nearest club. The rest was, to be perfectly honest, a bit fuzzy in Jeremy’s mind. He knew he danced and laughed and drank. A lot. He remembered Alvarez, always at his elbow with another drink or leading him onto the dance floor, laughing. And he vaguely recalled the team returning to the hotel, where Rheman only reprimanded them a little before telling them to make sure they got up in time for their flight. Which Jeremy and Jean had clearly done an amazing job of.

_ Coach Rheman is going to kill me,  _ Jeremy thought sullenly as he trudged out of the elevator with Jean to the front desk.

“Can you check us out while I call Coach? We should probably tell him we haven’t died.”

Jean nodded and turned to the man behind the desk while Jeremy fished out his phone and dialled the number.

He was almost relieved when it went straight to voicemail, realizing that the others must all be on the plane by now. He was too hungover to deal with that call.

He finally thumbed over the messages icon, wary of all the frantic texts he was sure to see. He responded to Rheman’s messages first, saying that he and Jean had slept in and would check for the next available flights.

He checked the messages from his mom next, and smiled at the words of encouragement from her, saying she knew he would do better next time and that she thought they all played excellently. He quickly responded, and then moved on to the messages from his teammates.

He saw Laila’s first, which simply read  _ im not responsible for whatever scheme alvarez is up to, _ which was… worrying, but not particularly unusual.

He checked Alvarez’s messages next, hoping for some clarification on whatever she had done this time, and he narrowed his eyes as he read.

 

 **Alvarez** : lmao looks like u missed the flight my dude :/

(which i had absolutely nothing to do with.)

((whatever laila told u is a lie.))

ANYWAYS

im sure ur freaking out and trying to find another flight but consider this….

like the best friend i am i rented a car for u guys

i think u see where this is going

but if not allow me to spell it out for u…. r u ready….

ROAD TRIP!!

ok ok hear me out right… spring break starts this week so ur not even gonna miss class (u and jean r FUCKING NERDS so i know thats like,, important to u guys) AND even tho it sucks we lost :(((((( we dont have any more games to get ready for!!!!

see?? i thought this thru. i have good ideas sometimes.

ok they just told us to turn our devices off so gtg but!!! road trips r fun dude!!!! do it!!! just like nike said!! ok ill call u when we land bye ily have fun w ur broody roommate who ur totally not in love w <3

 

Jeremy shook his head, but a smile was slowly forming on his lips as he typed out a response.

 

 **Jeremy** : ur lucky i love you. and that murder is illegal.

 

He considered Alvarez’s idea for a road trip as he continued typing out messages on his phone, and, admittedly, the idea was growing on him.

After all, she was right about them not having any reason to rush home. And he was sure that a vacation would do Jean some good, especially since he was surely beating himself up after their loss to the Foxes.

And yes, maybe he did like the idea of spending some time with Jean alone, away from the 26 other Trojans and without classes or games hanging over their heads.

He had just made up his mind when he was joined by Jean, who had finished checking them out.

“What did Coach Rheman say?”

“Oh, yeah, he didn’t answer. They’re on the plane already.”

“Of course,” Jean said, checking the time on his phone again, “They probably won’t even be landing for another three or four hours.”

“We can check for the next available flight, but there is something else we could try instead,” Jeremy began, unsure how to phrase it in a way that would make Jean agree.

Jean quirked up an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to continue, and Jeremy smiled a little sheepishly.

“We don’t have any classes we need to be back in time for, right? And as much as it sucks that we’re not going to Finals, it also means that we don’t have anymore games this season we need to make it to practice for.”

“Okay…” Jean said, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

“I know for a fact that you haven’t had a proper vacation in a hell of a long time, if ever, and I was thinking maybe we could drive back. Like a road trip, you know. A classic, wholesome American vacation, fun for all ages,” Jeremy rambled, then added, “If you really don’t want to, we don’t have to. We can just find the next flight and go from there, but it could be really fun, if you were down for it?”

“That’s a terrible idea,” Jean deadpanned.

“Oh, come on, Jean! Live a little! I know you’ve secretly always wanted to go on a cross country road trip, and now’s your chance to make that dream a reality!” Jeremy exclaimed enthusiastically in a last effort to convince him.

Jean levelled Jeremy with an unimpressed stare that would’ve had lesser men backing down in a second. As it was, it had Jeremy backing down after a few moments. He would’ve sworn that Jean must be practicing that look in the mirror when no one’s watching.

“Okay. I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do, but you should at least think about it.”

“Didn’t you want to go home to see you family over the break?”

“I mean, yeah, but that doesn’t mean I don’t also want to do this.”

Jean considered him for a moment, then sighed and said, “If you really want to, we can.”

“Really?” Jeremy brightened and smiled widely up at the man. “This is gonna be amazing! There’s so many cool places we can check out on the way!”

“It’s still a terrible idea,” Jean repeated, but Jeremy saw the ghost of a smile play across his features, and he just rolled his eyes.

* * *

 

“Do you think she put the car under her name or mine? Probably mine, right?” Jeremy asked as they approached the kiosk for the car rental service.

Jean simply shrugged in response and Jeremy huffed, turning to the girl behind the desk.

“I’m here to pick up a car?”

“Name?” asked the bored looking attendant, leaning her head onto her hand.

“It’s either gonna be Knox or Alvarez, I’m not really sure which.”

The attendant stared blankly at him before turning to her computer and typing for a moment. “You wanted to rent the blue VW for a week and return it to our Los Angeles location, is that correct?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Can I see your license?”

Jeremy handed it to the attendant, who barely even glanced at it before handing it back and saying, monotone, “That’s gonna be $400. The tank is full, but you have to pay for your own refills. You’ll be charged extra for every day you don’t turn in the car after next Saturday. If there’s any damage, you’ll be responsible for paying for it. We’re not liable for any accidents you get into on the road. Sign here.”

She slid a stack of papers over to him, and he signed and finished the transaction before getting handed the keys to car.

“It’s gonna be in the lot to your left,” the girl said, already looking back down at the magazine in front of her.

They wandered the lot for a few minutes, before finally stopping in front of the right car, a bright blue VW sedan.

Jeremy grinned over at Jean and said, “So, do you want to drive or should I?”


End file.
